Canes acquire Burns, Pederson from Sharks

The Carolina Hurricanes have reportedly acquired defenseman Brent Burns and forward Lane Pederson from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Steven Lorentz, Eetu Makiniemi and a 2023 third-round pick.

Additionally, the Sharks will retain 33 percent of Burns’ $8 million AAV contract, dropping his cap hit from $8 million to $5.33 million.

Burns is a veteran right-shot defenseman with over 1,200 NHL games under his belt, and he has three years at $8 million AAV left on his contract (though his actual money owed is only $16.5 million).

In 2021-22, Burns contributed 54 points for the Sharks while playing in all 82 games for the team. Even at the age of 36, Burns was pretty productive. He’s never had any real injury troubles, and he’s put up 40 or more points in 10 different seasons during his illustrious NHL career. He won the Norris trophy back in 2017.

Burns is the Hurricanes’ likely replacement for Tony DeAngelo, who partnered on Carolina’s top pairing with Jaccob Slavin a season ago. Burns brings some needed and significant offensive firepower to the Canes’ blue line after the departure of DeAngelo.

Lane Pederson is a 24-year-old forward with just 44 career NHL games. He scored two points in 29 games for the Sharks in 2021-22.

Leaving the Canes’ organization will be Lorentz and Makiniemi. Lorentz had 21 points in 112 games over the past two seasons, playing mostly on the fourth line. There’s quite a few replacement options for Lorentz, including Pederson and highly-touted prospect Jack Drury.

Makiniemi had a really strong, injury derailed season for the Chicago Wolves this past season. He had a .922 save percentage and 2.06 GAA in 14 games, though the emergence of Pyotr Kochetkov as a legitimate NHL talent did push Makiniemi down the Canes’ organizational pecking order.

The Hurricanes will also send a conditional third-round pick in 2023 to the Sharks.

The Carolina Hurricanes have made the trade official, with the details lining up with the reports.

Here is the Hurricanes’ full press release:

RALEIGH, N.C. – Don Waddell, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has acquired defenseman Brent Burns and forward Lane Pederson from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for forward Steven Lorentz, goaltender Eetu Makiniemi and a conditional third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. As a part of the deal, the Sharks will retain 33% of the remaining salary and cap hit on Burns’ contract.

“Brent has been an elite offensive defenseman in the NHL for a long time,” said Waddell. “He has produced at a consistent level throughout his career, and we believe adding him brings us closer to our goal of winning the Stanley Cup. Lane is a young center who helps solidify our depth down the middle.”

Burns, 37, has registered 777 points (227g, 550a) in 1,251 career NHL games with San Jose and Minnesota. He won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the league’s best defenseman in 2017 and was a finalist for the award in 2016 and 2019. Burns is a six-time All-Star and won the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2015. He has appeared in 679 consecutive games, which is the second-longest active ironman streak in the NHL and tied for the 10th-longest in league history. Burns leads all active NHL defensemen in career goals, assists, points and game-winning goals (40). His 15 career overtime goals are the most by a defenseman in NHL history and rank tied for ninth among all skaters. Burns ranks tied for 13th in goals, tied for 19th in points, 21st in assists and tied for 24th in power-play goals (80) among all defensemen in NHL history.

The 6’5”, 230-pound blueliner posted 54 points (10g, 44a) in 82 games with San Jose in 2021-22 while averaging a career-high 26:09 of ice time per game, which led the Sharks and ranked third among all NHL skaters. Burns also led San Jose in assists and power-play assists (14) while reaching the 10-goal mark for the 11th time in his NHL career. He has twice led all NHL defensemen in points, tallying 83 points (16g, 67a) in 2018-19 and 76 points (29g, 47a) in 2016-17. Burns has skated in 94 career NHL playoff games, posting 62 points (20g, 42a). The Barrie, Ont., native has represented Canada at the World Cup (2016), IIHF World Championships (2008, 2010, 2011, 2015) and IIHF World Junior Championships (2004), winning gold twice (2015, 2016) and silver twice (2004, 2008). Burns was drafted by Minnesota in the first round, 20th overall, of the 2003 NHL Draft. He was traded by the Wild to the Sharks on June 24, 2011.

Pederson, 24, has recorded five points (1g, 4a) in 44 career NHL games with Arizona and San Jose. The 6’0”, 192-pound center has also registered 142 points (67g, 75a) in 205 career AHL games with San Jose and Tucson since beginning his professional career in 2017. Signed by the Coyotes as an undrafted free agent on Oct. 13, 2016, Pederson tallied 140 points (53g, 87a) in 199 career WHL games with Swift Current, Red Deer and Seattle from 2014-17. The Saskatoon, Sask., native was traded to San Jose by Arizona in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft on July 28, 2021.

Lorentz, 26, posted 21 points (10g, 11a) in 112 NHL games with Carolina from 2020-22 and added three assists in 16 playoff games. He was drafted by the Hurricanes in the seventh round, 186th overall, of the 2015 NHL Draft. Makiniemi, 23, posted an 11-2-1 record, 2.06 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in 14 AHL games with the Chicago Wolves in 2021-22. He was drafted by the Hurricanes in the fourth round, 104th overall, of the 2017 NHL Draft.